The Association of the Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC) has announced the official launch of MyCreds™| MesCertif™, a comprehensive, bilingual, online credential wallet for Canadian post-secondary learners, supported by a comprehensive website for Canada’s post-secondary community.
With this new credential wallet and website, ARUCC is helping Canada’s colleges and universities deliver digitized and portable transcripts and credentials - including badges and microcredentials - to post-secondary learners online – anytime, anywhere. Colleges and universities across Canada have joined the effort. Key benefits to learners include a personalized learner credential wallet with 24/7 access; bilingual service and support (French and English); and the ability for them to access, view, control and share their verified and official transcripts, credentials, badges, micro-credentials and documents in a digitized format anytime and anywhere.
Built through cooperation
The new platform and website are supported by two Vancouver based firms: Digitary, which is an internationally renowned document issuing company, and Split Mango, a Canadian website design firm. Through this work, ARUCC is transforming service delivery to learners by providing expedited access to their official transcripts and credentials.
MyCreds™ | MesCertif™ results from the efforts for four partnering organizations whose members have worked collaboratively to achieve this outcome through the ARUCC National Network Project. These organizations include ARUCC, the Pan-Canadian Consortium on Admissions and Transfer (PCCAT), the Canadian University Council of Chief Information Officers (CUCCIO), and the Canadian Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (CanPESC) User Group.
“Today is an exciting milestone for our national community and for Canadian post-secondary students and graduates in general as we progress to the next stage of providing a dedicated digital credential wallet for Canadian post-secondary students,” says Romesh Vadivel, president, ARUCC. “We are on-track to achieve our ultimate goal, which is the full launch of a national, secure digital network through which domestic and international students may share their official, digitized post-secondary transcripts and credentials.”
An international trend: Groningen and the U.S.
ARUCC's announcement is the second such national effort: Australia and New Zealand launched a similar digital transcript program a few years ago (My eQuals). Both the Canadian and Australian/New Zealand projects are connected to the global initiative to support student mobility and electronic credentials known as the Groningen Declaration Network (GDN).
AACRAO has been involved in the GDN since its inception, and Deputy Director Melanie Gottlieb currently serves on the board.
"Electronic credentials is really an access and equity issue," Gottlieb said, "and what ARUCC has done is really inspiring. They started with a vision, gathered data, solved problems, knocked down political obstacles, created an RFP, and found the partners and the money to make it happen. It's a very well thought-out process. The rest of the world is making this happen. We need to do it in the U.S., and AACRAO should be a part of it."